


Say My Name and Every Color Illuminates

by cinderfell



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: (a lot of kisses lmao), CritRole Bang, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Post-Chroma Conclave
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-25
Updated: 2016-11-25
Packaged: 2018-09-02 03:24:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8649682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinderfell/pseuds/cinderfell
Summary: The Conclave is destroyed, Thordak and Raishan felled by Vox Machina's determination. A week has passed and celebration brews in Whitestone as Vox Machina and friends recover from the war. Amidst the drinking and laughter, Pike and Keyleth explore their newfound relationship.





	

**Author's Note:**

> this piece was done for the critical role bang and is a companion to the absolutely breathtaking art done by thegoldenlocks, found [here](http://cinderfell.tumblr.com/post/153642487158/title-say-my-name-and-every-color-illuminates)!  
> i had so much fun doing this and i’m very, very glad that i got to do something with my one of my rarepairs. i really loved how both things turned out and i hope you all enjoy them too!

Pike had seen a lot of things in her life, a lot of them beautiful and even more of them ugly, but none of them had filled her with such an extreme mix of horror and relief as Thordak falling.

He fell wreathing to the ground, his body eroded by Vox Machina’s onslaught. Chunks of flesh and scale were missing, his blood pooling out around him like magma. For a moment he almost seemed to recover, his legs shaking and wings straining as he began to push himself back up onto his feet. For a moment they all thought they were finally done for, their party too hurt to survive another wave of fire breath. For a moment, Pike thought of Wilhand and Westruun and their little red brick home and _oh, somebody would have to tell Papa about Grog and I_ as the dragon reared back.

And then the arrow hit Thordak and the beast was still, silenced except for the thunderous sound of his corpse falling forward. Pike turned to look at the backlines, as did they all, to find Vex’ahlia with Fenthras drawn, her hand still frozen in the position it had been in when she released her last attack.

Raishan, weakened from the fight, fell soon after, her body crashing to the ground and landing in an unmoving heap (with Keyleth at her feet, hair and flaming hands blurring against the swell of dust until all Pike could see was a red and gold flame burning bright and unwavering against the monstrosity before her). The buildings around Thordak’s roosting place at the heart of Emon had long since given under both the red dragon himself and the changing and increasingly volcanic landscape of the city, but the sheer size of her body brought anything left crumbling down. She was an ancient dragon, after all, but next to the Cinder King, Pike couldn’t help but think she was miniscule, almost pitiful.

The battlefield grew quiet with the Diseased Deceiver’s death. They looked at each other, eyes wide and breath heavy as the full weight of what they’d just done fully sunk in.

The silence was broken by a strangled noise that worked its way out of Vex’s throat before the ranger fell to her knees, Fenthras scattering across the ground as she released it. She wrapped her arms around herself and for once didn’t try to hide the way her face twisted up with tears or the gasps she made as she tried to breathe through it.

 _Oh, Vex,_ Pike thought sadly as her friend fell apart openly in front of all of them.

With that, Vox Machina seemed to come back to themselves.

Percy quietly limped from where he’d been firing up at the dragons over to Vex’s side before dropping his gun next to her bow and sitting down in the rubble next to her, a hand resting on her shaking shoulder. After a moment she leaned into his touch, her head dipping lower as her body was racked with another wave of sobs.

Scanlan looked worse for wear. His purple clothing was torn and bloodied, a frown on his face as he looked from teammate to teammate. When his eyes met Pike his frown turned into a smile, albeit an exhausted one, before he flashed her a small thumbs up. Pike gave him two thumbs up in response and the smile on his face grew wider.

Distracted by the cleric, Scanlan didn’t even notice the rogue sneaking up behind him before his beret—somehow still perched on his head even after the harrowing fight—was promptly snatched up and held up far out of the gnome’s reach. Vax was as messed up as the rest of them, half his face covered by a dark smear of red from when Thordak’s tail slammed him into the ground.

Pike’s eyes slid from the two of them and rested on Grog behind them. There were burns all across his body. He was a big target that hit hard and could stay up; Thordak had focused a lot of energy on him. At one point she had thought he’d gone down, feeling her heart stop for a split second, before he had risen from the flame and ash snarling and ready to keep fighting.

Pike watched as her friend, unusually quiet, made his way past where Vex and Percy were huddled (stopping briefly to tell Vex that it was a nice shot on Thordak, which made the half-elf quake before making a noise that sounded vaguely like a thank you) and through the wreckage until he came to a halt by Raishan’s corpse and the lone figure standing next to it. Pike watched as Grog and Keyleth surveyed the fallen beast in silence for a moment before Grog slowly raised his hand in offering to her. Keyleth stared at it before it seemed to click and then— _whack!_ —she brought her hand down hard against his.

Somewhere out of sight, Pike knew that battles still raged between their allies and the now leaderless minions of the conclave. Her eyes fluttered shut as she reached up and touched her holy symbol, unscathed by the fire and fighting, and said a little prayer for them all. They’d lost too much to the dragons—the twins lost their mother so many years ago, Allura and Kima lost their friends, Pike herself had almost died by Vax’s side in the fight with Vorugal—and if Sarenrae could spare even an ounce of her power to help she would be grateful.

With a heavy, shaking breath she opened her eyes again, taking a moment to look across the battlefield and all her friends. Her eyes finally came back to rest on Grog and Keyleth’s forms in the distance. Her hand tightened around her symbol as she watched them, ignoring the pinpricks at the corners of her eyes as they stood there in front of her, heavily scarred but still standing. Still alive.

“Oh, Sarenrae,” she whispered, too quiet for anybody to pick up on. The hand holding her symbol trembled. “Thank you so much.”

Grog noticed Pike coming before Keyleth did, and with a wide grin he spun around and held out his arms. Feeling her own face break out in a grin, Pike took off running as fast as her little Gnomish legs and plate armor would let her. Grog crouched down enough that when she flung herself into his arms she almost headbutted him right in the chin, earning her a loud laugh with an underlying growl as he swung her up into the air. For a moment she thought he’d crush her in his arms despite the heavy armor, but she quickly retaliated with a quick squeeze. She heard the breath briefly leave his lungs at her hug, a wheezing laugh escaping his lips.

“You okay?” Keyleth asked as Grog dropped Pike back onto the ground with a heavy _clank_ , reaching down to touch the side of Pike’s head. Pike flinched away as her fingers brushed against an open wound, biting back a hiss of pain. Keyleth immediately withdrew, eyes wide. “Sorry!”

“It’s fine. I’m fine,” Pike assured her hurriedly, offering her a weak smile. After a moment Keyleth smiled back, the hand that had reached for Pike folding over the other one holding her staff. “I’ll heal it eventually; right now I’m more worried about all of you.”

They both smiled at each other, despite the destruction around them. Grog, although not the sharpest of men, took one look at Pike and the way she looked at Keyleth and let out a loud laugh. He leaned down and gently patted Pike on the back before giving her the most obvious, dramatic attempt at a wink she’d ever seen in her life. “ _Get it_ , monstah.”

With that, he left them to join the rest of their party, leaving the two women standing next to each other as they watched him leave. Pike cleared her throat (wishing her head was as easily cleared) before turning back to Keyleth.

“Will you come down here so I can start healing you?” Pike tugged on Keyleth’s skirt. Keyleth shot her a small smile before she slowly got down onto her knees so Pike could work. Even down on her knees, the druid was taller than Pike.

“I’m really glad you’re okay.” Pike wondered if Keyleth was picking up on what she wasn’t saying. Keyleth certainly wasn’t stupid, but she’d never been very good at reading emotions.

“Me too,” Keyleth agreed before turning beet red. “I mean, I don’t mean I’m glad that I’m okay. I mean, I am. I’m glad I’m okay because if I wasn’t that would be bad, but I… I’m trying to say that I’m glad you’re okay too.”

And then she smiled at the cleric, the sweetest one Pike had ever seen. Pike slowly raised a hand to the open wound on the druid’s face. Keyleth winced at the touch, pulling back a bit before letting herself adjust to the sting as the cleric did her job.

Pike moved her other hand up to Keyleth’s other cheek. There was no wound there and Keyleth shifted so she was leaning her weight into Pike’s hand. With a small prayer (mostly for healing, a little bit for confidence), divine light flashed briefly before fading into Keyleth’s skin.

“There we go,” she said softly, her heart suddenly very loud in her head.

“You always take such good care of us.” Keyleth’s smile widened, and _oh_ , she swore she heard her heartbeat skip.

She was still there, Pike thought. Keyleth was still there in front of her, smiling at her. She wasn’t going anywhere any time soon.

She pressed a kiss to Keyleth’s cheek, her hands still holding the sides of her face. Keyleth giggled, hands reaching out to touch Pike’s arms. After a moment, Pike leaned in to press a second kiss to the laughing woman’s cheek. Keyleth tightened her grip on Pike’s arms, and suddenly there were both looking at each other, the tips of their noses brushing against each other and their breath warm against each other’s skin. Keyleth’s eyes flickered down to Pike’s lips as the laughter faded, the look on her face suddenly unsure but… not unhappy?

 _Fuck it,_ Pike thought as she leaned forward and kissed Keyleth square on the mouth. They just killed two dragons; Pike was willing to take a risk. The kiss was hard and quick, barely even started before it was over and Pike was pulling back to look at Keyleth, trying to read her expression. Keyleth, to Pike’s relief, looked surprised but not revolted.

“I thought you loved somebody,” Keyleth whispered, wringing her hands as she looked down at her. Pike just looked at her for a moment, thinking _oh Sarenrae, she can’t be serious_. Keyleth seemed to look her over before something in her mind seemed to click, her eyes widening and lips parting slightly. “Oh.”

Pike, hands still cupping Keyleth’s face, nodded slowly. “Yeah.”

 _“Oh,”_ the druid said again.

Pike bit her lip, her hands trembling where they held onto Keyleth. “Was that wrong? Should I not have done that?”

Keyleth’s mouth parted as she seemed to think of what to say, her eyes wide. After moment of silence Pike drew her hands back slowly, a small apologetic smile on her face. “Sorry, Key.”

And then Keyleth grabbed Pike’s hands in her own, leaned forward, and kissed her back. It was only for a split second (and the force of Keyleth kissing her out of nowhere almost shoved Pike backwards onto her ass) but when they drew back to look at each other, Keyleth was grinning. And Pike… well, Pike had the stupidest, most starstruck look on her face, she was sure.

“I think,” Pike started slowly, her hands still held in Keyleth’s, “we need to talk about some things.”

“Um, apparently,” Keyleth agreed.

Scanlan and Grog both high-fived Pike after she left Keyleth to heal the rest of them, their grins almost as wide as Pike’s own. Almost.

* * *

There was just something about it that was mesmerizing, Pike thought. A tavern full of people singing and dancing and laughing when only a week ago they were cowering in fear in their homes, unsure if they’d even live to see the next morning. Doctor Dranzel’s troupe had been brought to Whitestone at Scanlan’s request and, even before the celebration, they’d been playing in the local taverns with Scanlan. There was just something about the way they all worked that lifted everybody’s spirits. Scanlan and Kaylie in particular were absolutely breath-taking when they played together now, the tension between them previously almost completely lift from their shoulders.

Pike was sitting at the bar talking to Grog and Vax, fiddling with the hem of her dress as they spoke. She didn’t carry dresses with her into battle and Whitestone didn’t exactly have a large Gnomish population so buying a dress was out of the question, so she’d gone home briefly to pick one up. She had needed to check in with him anyways (know he was alive, let him know she was still alive). Nothing she had was overly fancy, but luckily the celebration Percy and Cassandra had organized in Whitestone a week after Thordak fell was more casual. She’d pulled a soft blue dress with a high collar from her room and folded it up under her arm before jumping back.

The last time she’d worn it, she’d been much younger. It was definitely last worn before she started adventuring based off of the parts where it clung tighter to her than it ever used to. Pike had definitely beefed up since she first met Vox Machina, that was for sure.

Then again, she still looked pretty good in it, if she did say so herself. She got the Scanlan _and_ the Vex seal of approval on it (“If we both weren’t spoken for already I’d woo you myself,” Vex joked; Scanlan just grinned, summoned Bigby’s Hand, and fist-bumped her with it). She let her hair loose from her braid and bun at Vex’s suggestion and pulled on her nicest pair of boots. She definitely… she definitely wanted to look good for the celebration.

She was in the middle of a conversation about what they thought they were going to do after the celebration was done since they had time to rest when the tavern door swung open, letting a cool rush of air into the warm building. Pike received a swift elbow to the side from Vax, prompting her to look up at the door and nearly spilling her drink all over herself like an idiot.

Keyleth was beautiful.

Pike was no wordsmith like Scanlan. She couldn’t even begin to put into words what exactly her heart did when Keyleth met her eyes from across the room and she tilted her head back and let out the loveliest sound Pike had ever heard in her entire life. Her long hair was drawn back into a braid; small yellow flowers weaved throughout the red of her hair before trailing down across the brown and gold fabric of her dress.

It felt like Pike was on the edge of something with Keyleth. She felt her toes hanging off the ledge, knew Keyleth was willing to jump too, but every time she tried to take the leap she found herself pulling back. Keyleth knew. Or at least Pike thought she knew. Their brief conversation after the siege on Emon–and the kiss–had made her feelings for Keyleth pretty clear. The others seemed to get it. Well, they’d have to be blind not to get it after seeing the two of them kiss. She couldn’t even spit the words out to Keyleth– _I love you_ –without stuttering and drawing back, shoving those words down deeper. Words were just… not Pike’s strong suit.

Grog and Vax greeted Keyleth as she came up to them before moving further down the bar to give the two women space, which Pike was very grateful for. Keyleth slowly took the seat Grog abandoned, gathering up her skirts so she could cross one leg over the other without getting tangled.

“You look so pretty,” Keyleth whispered as she finally settled in her seat, her voice almost lost under the music and the chatter. Her hand came up to cover the wide smile growing across her face. Pike felt her cheeks heat up.

“Thanks. I feel a little under-dressed now.” She gave her a small smile and gestured at all the flowers that decorated Keyleth. “You look amazing.”

Keyleth looked Pike up and down before raising her hand and snapping her fingers. Pike watched as a spark of green magical energy wrapped itself around Keyleth’s fingers before materializing into another small, yellow flower identical to the ones she was wearing. After a moment of hesitation Keyleth reached forward and brushed a lock of white hair back and tucked the flower behind Pike’s ear. Pike reached up to touch the flower, running her fingertips across the delicate petals before moving down to press her palm against Keyleth’s hand, still hovering next to Pike’s face.

She thought about doing it then: kissing her again. They were so close, close enough to just lean forward a couple of inches and close the distance between their lips. Instead, Pike settled for a very soft, “Thank you.”

The troupe kicked up into a jovial song behind them and they both turned to watch the musicians across the crowded tavern. Scanlan looked like he was barely containing a grin behind his flout as he played next to Kaylie while the young gnome herself playfully bumped into her father. It was sweet seeing them bond, Pike thought. Scanlan deserved some happiness and, although she didn’t know her very well, Kaylie deserved some too.

“So,” Pike said, turning to look at her date, “how do you feel about dancing?”

Keyleth flushed nearly as red as her hair. “I’m not very good at dancing, I don’t think.”

Pike grinned. “Neither am I. That doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun.”

She hopped down off her seat, brushing the wrinkles out of her dress before offering a hand out to Keyleth. The druid looked down at her, worrying her lip between her teeth before slowly taking her hand and getting to her feet. Pike beamed up at her, earning her a small smile in return.

Well, Keyleth definitely wasn’t wrong. She was a terrible dancer. And Pike wasn’t wrong either, although she wasn’t surprised by that at all. She awkwardly bumped into Keyleth within the first minute of moving into the crowd, nearly knocking them off-balance and sending them tumbling to the floor. It also didn’t help that Keyleth’s dress, as beautiful as it was, was probably not meant for a whole lot of movement. She kept having to hike her skirts up with one hand so she wouldn’t trip.

That said, after a couple of minutes it all stopped mattering. They found their rhythm, as clumsy as it was. Keyleth laughed, spinning Pike and bringing her back in close to her so many times that Pike wasn’t sure if she was dizzy because she was nervous or from all the twirling.

After a while time seemed to blur. The troupe was good, ending a song and almost immediately launching into another before the crowd could have a moment to rest. As tired as they were, Pike didn’t want to pull away. They must’ve danced for hours, both swaying and laughing. Neither of them were very good at dancing, admittedly, but they were both happy.

The crowds began to thin out after a while, the bar filling up as people got their last drink of the night before heading home. Even the troupe, who’d been powering through for hours on end, began to come down from their rhythm to talk with one another. Pike took the brief moment to lean against Keyleth’s side, heart pounding in her head and breath heavy. They’d fought beholders and dragons but dancing like that? So close to a beautiful woman? It left Pike absolutely wrecked.

After a couple of minutes Scanlan cleared his throat to call attention back to the stage, Kaylie standing close to his side.

“This last one goes out to two very special ladies in the tavern tonight,” Scanlan said with a grin, eyes settling on where Pike and Keyleth were standing. When he knew he caught Pike’s eye, he gave her a wink before turning back to the rest of the troupe. Keyleth looked at Pike as if she’d find the answers she was looking for in the cleric’s face, but Pike just shrugged.

When the music started up again the rest of the crowd started to move together, slipping into the sway of the music and finding their rhythm while the two of them stood there staring at each other. Pike felt a blush creep up across the back of her neck as she realized what Scanlan was trying to do. Keyleth just seemed confused by the sudden tone shift, then she looked around at the people who had pulled each other close and it seemed to click for her, her lips forming a small O.

It was… an odd song, to say the least. The troupe was clearly more used to playing cheery tavern songs, not slow songs like the one Scanlan had clearly prompted them to play as their finale. But it was oddly charming in a way. Scanlan and Kaylie were masters of their craft, after all, and so were the rest of the troupe.

“How do we even go about slow dancing when you’re down there and I’m up here?” Keyleth asked, resting her hands on Pike’s shoulders.

“That,” Pike said under her breath, “is a good question.”

Pike’s full height put her at about Keyleth’s stomach. She’d always appreciated the half-elf’s height (everybody was tall to Pike, but Keyleth was taller than most and she loved it) but now, paired with her own shortness, it was very much a curse. They awkwardly swayed together, trying to fall into step with the rest of the couples.

After a minute or two, Keyleth whispered, “Um, is it just me or are people looking at us?”

“He specifically called us out as the reason for this song. I’m pretty sure they’re definitely looking at us.” Pike was spending a lot of time looking at her feet now, that was for sure. “Not to mention, you know, the height difference.”

“Ah,” Keyleth said softly. “Well, we all know I do well under pressure.”

Pike laughed softly. “We just need to do our best.”

They did. It took a long time, but it felt like they had it. Sure, Pike couldn’t rest her head against Keyleth’s chest or loop her arms up around her neck like the other couples dancing in the tavern, but for a moment everything seemed to click into place. They were… well, they were perfect.

And then Pike stepped right onto Keyleth’s foot.

Keyleth made a high-pitched cry, stumbling a few steps backwards (and accidentally dragging Pike, who was adamantly apologizing, with her) directly into another couple. They shot the two of them dirty looks before they went back to dancing, purposely shifting a couple of feet over.

“Uh.” Keyleth’s face was nearly redder than her hair, a lovely blush that spread all the way up to the tips of her pointed ears. “I don’t think slow dancing is really our thing.”

“No,” Pike agreed quickly. She thought back to all the times she’d ruined the group’s more stealthy adventures and, really, they’d been blaming her armor for the majority of her clumsy mistakes but when the armor came off she wasn’t much better. She could barely walk without tripping over her own two feet, much less dance with a pretty woman to the rhythm of a slow song just for them. “Hey. Do you want to get some fresh air?”

Keyleth looked relieved, reaching down to grab Pike’s hands in her own. “That sounds wonderful.”

They shifted their way through the crowd, finally pushing out of the tavern and into the open. It was dark save for the lanterns lit along the roads with people walking and talking with mugs of ale in their hands. They shuffled off to the side of the tavern, finding a sturdy table pushed up against the wall. Pike hopped up on top of it and Keyleth settled next to her, leaning back against the wall of the tavern and taking a deep breath.

Pike swung her legs as she looked Keyleth over, feeling breathless. “So. That was a thing.”

“That was definitely a thing,” Keyelth agreed slowly, turning her dark eyes on Pike. They were nearly black save for the rings of gold around her pupil, dark and beautiful and all Pike wanted to do was get herself lost in them.

She wanted to do a lot of things, really. She wanted to map out every freckle on her face, commit them to memory. She’d done it to the stars while she sailed, she could do it with freckles. Pike opened her mouth to ask her what they were going to do now that they’d thoroughly embarrassed themselves at this tavern, suggest they find another part of the celebration and drink themselves silly before everything closed.

And then Keyleth kissed her.

It was over before Pike could even blink, before she could even move to tug her closer. Keyleth was there one moment, kissing her hard and quick, and then she was right back where she was a moment ago just… looking at her.

Keyleth’s eyes were wide, nervously. “Was that okay? Should I have done that?”

Was it okay? _Was it okay?_ Sweet Sarenrae, Pike had never wanted to be kissed so badly before. Pike had never kissed anyone as pretty as Keyleth, never kissed anyone as funny or sweet or delightfully charming despite her awkwardness.

“Keyleth,” she says softly, reaching up to touch the other woman’s shoulders.

“Yeah?”

“Kiss me again.” Pike watched as pure delight flickered across Keyleth’s face, her words the gentle reassurance the druid needed. Keyleth leaned forward again, mouth pressing against Pike’s gently. It was not like the first two kiss in the battlefield, or the one just seconds before. This was unbelievably soft, Keyleth only barely brushing against her lips as if unsure of herself now that she was actually being asked to kiss her.

Keyleth’s words from earlier briefly echoed in Pike’s mind: _Well, we all know I’m not good under pressure._ Ah. Right. Pressure. That wasn’t want Pike wanted out of this at all.

She almost said something then, but Keyleth suddenly seemed to find her confidence and deepened the kiss and anything Pike was thinking about saying was wiped away. Oh yes, Pike thought, intensely aware of Keyleth’s long eyelashes brushing against her. She could work with this.

Suddenly, a laugh bubbled up from Keyleth and Pike pulled away just enough to let her continue, enough to breathe, resting her forehead against Keyleth’s and smiling as she felt the other woman tremble with laughter. One of Keyleth’s hands came up to rest against the back of Pike’s neck as she giggled, her fingernails brushing against Pike’s skin and sending shivers down the cleric’s back. Keyleth was smiling as she slowly admitted, “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“That’s fine.” Pike lifted her head slightly so she could press a kiss to the tip of Keyleth’s cold nose, which only made the redhead giggle harder. “To be perfectly honest, I’m not quite sure what I’m doing either.”

“I’ve only ever kissed Kash. I’m still… very new to this whole thing.” Pike hummed at that. She definitely wouldn’t say she was experienced using any definition of the word (she could count on one hand the number of people she’d kissed; she could probably count the number of people she’d even been _interested_ in kissing on the same hand) but apparently she’d fooled around enough that she was going to be the one leading the way through the relationship. That was quite an idea, alright. One she would have to adapt to.

“I can’t believe you have a thing for clerics,” Pike teased, and _that_ made Keyleth’s giggle become a full-blown laugh, throwing her head back as it racked her body. Pike leaned forward and chased her laughter and lips, the laughter quieting as Keyleth pressed herself back into the kiss, her smile obvious even then. Pike pulled back just a bit, Keyleth attempting to follow her mouth even as she began to speak. “But we’ll figure this out. Together.”

They had time, she thought as Keyleth pulled her closer, kiss warm against the Whitestone chill. Time to figure things out. Time to smooth out the rough parts. Time to count all the freckles on Keyleth’s face, memorize them all. Time to figure out just how a gnome and a six foot tall half-elf were supposed to slow dance together.

They had all the time in the world.


End file.
